Celtics need planning and execution to beat Heat

The Heat may be starting the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Celtics on their homecourt. In many ways, though, they will be playing the series on Boston's terms.

Scott Souza/Daily News staff

The Heat may be starting the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Celtics on their homecourt. In many ways, though, they will be playing the series on Boston's terms.

With their first-round sweep of the Knicks, the Celtics earned six days off before Sunday's Game 1 in Miami. That meant three chances to practice with a free day on Saturday to make the three-hour plane trip. After the two games in Miami, there are then three days off before the series switches back to Boston for Game 3 next Saturday night.

It's the ideal scenario for the Celtics, who will need to win the series with game planning and execution compared to the Heat, who will rely on having the two most talented players on the floor in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

"We like to get into a series and know everybody's plays so when they run them we're not surprised by anything," Celtics guard Ray Allen said. "That's just the edge of being in the playoffs and knowing what we have to do in a series. By the time we see an opponent, we're calling out their plays. Everybody's a coach out there on the floor. You don't get that in the regular season."

Perhaps that's why Celtics coach Doc Rivers essentially said before yesterday's practice you can heave the 3-1 advantage Boston had in the regular-season series against Miami out the door. He isn't putting much stock in the first three games the Celtics won, and other than that it helped Miami gain homecourt advantage for the series, isn't too concerned about the 23-point beating Boston took in the fourth meeting.

"During the regular season, you don't know how your team's playing," he said. "You don't know if they're injured, if they're tired from travel. The regular season is so overplayed. It really is. There's things you can get out of it. But for the most part, you don't get anything except seeing a style of play."

The playoffs are a different animal - one the Celtics have attacked impressively in the second Big 3 era. Last year, they hit the playoffs as a fourth seed and won two series as the road team - against James and the top-seeded Cavaliers in the conference semifinals, and the second-seeded Magic in the conference finals - before forcing the Lakers to a Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

This year, they again stumbled into the postseason at 10-11 in their final 21 regular season games before sweeping the Knicks.

The rest helps. But the ability to focus on one opponent, and tweak the game plan as necessary, has been a Celtics strength. That process for this series began right after the New York clincher.

"It's the whole staff," Rivers said of the initial brainstorm session. "We all sit in one room and game plan defensively and offensively. I will run a (lot) of stuff by them. We discuss it. I decide. Then we put it in play. You manipulate it, but it doesn't change much from there."

The change comes in what is emphasized from game to game.

"In the New York series we clearly did some stuff different," Rivers said. "It wasn't like we changed our philosophy. But in the New York series, instead of trying to pound it (to Kevin Garnett) in the post when they were trapping us every time, we went to all this single, double motion offense and it led to post up. But it also led to open shots in Games 3 and 4."

And a series in which the Celtics got better as it went along.

"The playoffs is the hardest basketball that you'll see," Rivers said. "You look at college, and they couldn't make it through one playoff game with the focus and physicality that's out there. But you do get rest in between games so you can stay focused and play at that level.

"That's nice for us. That helps a lot."

(Scott Souza is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@wickedlocal.com.)

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